Fall of Bashar al-Assad: How the autocratic Assad family stifled Syria for over 50 years

In Syria, the decades of the brutal regime of the Assad family have ended. President Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia and the capital Damascus has been captured by the rebels.

The insurgents’ lightning advance across Syria brought down the Assad family’s over 50 years of rule in just 10 days. Assad’s fall marks a significant turn in West Asia’s history.

Let’s take a closer look.

Hafez al-Assad’s authoritarian rule

Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad, are infamous for ruling Syria with an iron fist.

After World War II, Syria saw at least eight coups from the end of French colonial rule in 1946 until 1970, as per a New York Times (NYT) report.

Hafez, an air force officer, went on to lead the Baath Party and seize power in 1970, putting an end to years of military coups.

Hafez, a Soviet ally, oppressed his country’s population, tolerating little dissent. Belonging to the minority Alawite community, he exploited Syria’s ethnic and religious differences to retain power.

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Hafez fortified his rule by elevating the Alawite minority to key political, social and military posts.

As per The Guardian, he cultivated a network of detention centres and strict governmental surveillance to stamp out any form of dissent.

In 1982, Hafez’s regime bombed and killed thousands of his opponents in the central city of Hama, ending an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood.

He died in 2000, resulting in his second son, Bashar al-Assad, taking over the country’s reins.

Bashar al-Assad’s iron-fisted rule

Bashar al-Assad, an eye surgeon, was not supposed to succeed his father. Hafez’s eldest son, Bassel, was instead groomed to replace his father. However, his sudden death in a car crash in 1994 led to Assad stepping into the limelight.

Assad then went on to study military science and later became a colonel in the Syrian army, reported CNN.

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After Hafez’s death in June 2000, the Syrian government changed the Constitution to lower the age required to become president from 40 to 34 so that Assad could succeed his father.

With Assad coming to power, the West hoped the young leader would bring a progressive, moderate regime to Syria. However, those hopes were soon shattered.

As per NYT, Assad, with his Syrian-British wife, Asma al-Assad, announced political and social reforms but soon ditched the promise after realising it would mean demolishing his father’s legacy.

“To both father and son, making concessions was not acceptable,” Randa Slim, a senior fellow with the Middle East Institute in Washington, told the American newspaper. “Eventually that is what brought Bashar down.”

As per BBC News, a dissident hinted that Assad may have struggled with feelings of inferiority or inadequacy. “Bashar felt that any reform, any questioning of his way of doing things was a sign he wasn’t respected. He refused to be treated any differently than his father,” Abdulhamid said earlier.

Assad’s police state was one of the most oppressive in West Asia, with hundreds of thousands of political prisoners held in dreadful conditions.

In 2011, Syria witnessed mass pro-democracy protests during the Arab Spring. The peaceful demonstrations were met with a violent government crackdown that plunged the country into a civil war.

Over 300,000 people are believed to have died during the ten years of the Syrian civil war, as per The Guardian.

“Bashar came to power with many doubting that he had the will to rule Syria with the kind of iron fist that his father did. He had a chip on his shoulder and was out to prove that he, in fact, could be his father’s son. And in some ways, he ended up exceeding his father’s brutality,” Firas Maksad, a Syria expert and the director of strategic outreach at the Middle East Institute, told NYT.

Assad has been accused of severe human rights violations, including the use of chemical weapons on civilians.

Assad’s brother Maher, sister Bushra, and brother-in-law Assef Shakwat played a key role in maintaining his regime’s security apparatus.

In 2015, he turned to Russia, Iran, and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to prop up his government as rebels led by Sunni Muslim jihadist groups seemed close to overthrowing him.

Assad got their support but now his luck has run out. As per CNN, Syrian streets are filled with happy people, celebrating his fall.

Assad has left behind a legacy of 13 years of a bloody civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced.

Only time will tell what is in store for Assad and Syria’s future.

With inputs from agencies